A woman who was allegedly victim of years of sexual abuse while at a children’s home in Fermanagh has issued legal proceedings against the Western Health and Social Care Trust (WHSCT), the Chief Constable of the PSNI and Care (NI) Ltd who managed the care home.
The proceedings come following reports in The Impartial Reporter in 2019 that a gang of convicted criminals allegedly prostituted teenagers from a children’s home in Killadeas almost 20 years ago, bringing them to houses around Fermanagh and other parts of Northern Ireland, where it is claimed they were drugged and repeatedly raped by men.
Brindley House, which was managed by Care (NI) Ltd., a private company, was a home designed to provide specialised care for young people with emotional and psychological needs when it opened in 2000.
‘Laura’ (not her real name) first contacted The Impartial Reporter to allege children like her were “prostituted out to men by known criminals”.
Her claims have been backed up by two former Brindley employees, who say the allegations were reported to the then Sperrin Lakeland Trust and the PSNI.
Laura went on to detail how they were offered alcohol and drugs before the situation intensified to attending houses where they were allegedly sexually abused by multiple men.
She alleged she was raped three or four different times.
The writ, which was lodged at the High Court in Belfast on Monday, February 7, is Laura’s chance to get those she claims were responsible for the welfare of the girls in Brindley House to own their actions, all those years ago.
“This is the God’s honest truth, and I am not going to tell a lie – this has affected my everyday life, and my whole life from when I was a child up until now,” she said.
“I need closure, and I need people to stand up and be accountable, because they had responsibility for us.”
The claim lodged is for personal injuries, loss and damage sustained due to “the negligence and breach of statutory duty” by the three defendants.
But for Laura, this is not about money: “It’s my life, and for them to acknowledge that they were responsible for me as a child, and they turned a blind eye to what was happening.
“For me, it has affected my life, and these people have just went on with their day to day-to-day lives, and there have been people who were really affected out of this.
“I am probably one of the lucky ones,” said Laura, who revealed a friend took her own life because of what happened.
Laura knows her search for closure will be a long one, but after almost 20 years of living with what happened, she just wants people to be held accountable.
“There’s not a day I don’t get up and remember, or have a memory of the trauma that has been caused to me.
“I just need them to stand up and say they had responsibility for young girls,” Laura added.
When contacted by The Impartial Reporter, the PSNI confirmed the Chief Constable has received legal correspondence in relation to this case, while a spokesperson for the Western Trust said: “In the interests of confidentiality, the Western Health and Social Care Trust is unable to provide any comment or respond to the query.”
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